Division of Ecological and Water Resources (Waters)

Minnesota's Lake Superior Coastal Program

Who Are We?

Minnesota's Lake Superior Coastal Program is a voluntary federal-state partnership dedicated to the comprehensive management of our coastal resources. The Program provides technical and financial resources for the local community, by bringing federal dollars into Minnesota for the Lake Superior coastal area.

The Coastal Program's goal is to preserve, protect, develop, and where possible, restore or enhance coastal resources along Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior. Our annual Grant program is an important funding source for local communities to help them balance protection of coastal resources with providing places for people to live, work, and play.

Why A Coastal Program?

Lake Superior has served the North Shore of Minnesota as an important economic, recreational and cultural resource. The demand for coastal resources from residents and visitors is high, and pressure for second home and recreational land development is increasing. Although we tend to think of Lake Superior as a pristine, unspoiled resource, it can be impacted by human activity. The watershed is challenged with heavy clay soils, steep changes in relief, and relatively shallow bedrock. These conditions make Lake Superior's north shore streams and its important near-shore areas susceptible to impacts from land use changes.

Minnesota's Coastal Program was approved in July 1999, and is administered through Minnesota DNR Ecological and Water Resources, in Two Harbors, MN. Our Program encourages greater cooperation, simplifies governmental processes, and provides tools to implement existing policies, authorities and programs within the Coastal Boundary. The Program Manager is Amber Westerbur.

The Coastal Boundary includes 31 local units of government local units of government and touches 189 miles of Lake Superior coast. Although we have only a small percentage of the Nation's Coast (95,471 miles), what happens here is important to the state, region and the country.

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